In the recovery of oil spills, it is essential that recovery operations begin as soon as possible after the spill. For this purpose new U.S. Coast Guard regulations require that oil tankers have available adequate systems for recovering all oil which could be released in the event of a spill. Such systems must be rapidly deployable and capable of operating in a fool-proof and safe manner to capture the maximum amount of oil floating on the surface of the water in the vicinity of the oil spill.
One proposed system for recovering spilled oil is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,788,079 issued Jan. 29, 1974 to Kirk and Reynolds. This '079 patent describes a system wherein a cover is deployed over an oil spill by spreading it horizontally over the;spill. In this system weights attached to lines connected to the periphery of the cover are propelled outwardly by an explosive charge. This system has a number of disadvantages, not the least of which is the tremendous fire hazard potentially created when a large explosive charge is detonated in the vicinity of an oil spill. Another disadvantage is the difficulty of assuring that all of the explosively propelled weights are discharged outwardly at the same time with the same velocity to assure uniform deployment of the cover by the outwardly propelled weights.